A young girl enjoys the water during the pumping trials in Ebagueye. |
Washington
DC, February 27, 2012—Another 25,000
people and their animals in Niger’s Azawak Valley will now have access to clean
water, largely because of support from Amman
Imman’s two newest partners: The Vibrant Village Foundation and The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF).
Through
a combined grant of $173,000 from the two foundations, additional funds
totaling $64,000 from Amman Imman's partnering schools, and individual
supporters, our fourth borehole well in
the village of Ebagueye is now
complete. We are poised to conduct additional life-changing activities in
the village, as well as to provide direct food assistance, gardening training
and educational materials in the villages where Amman
Imman's existing boreholes are already operating.
"We chose the site of
Ebagueye and its surrounding communities at the beginning of December,” said
Ariane Kirtley, Amman Imman’s Founder and Director. "By the end of
December, the Ebagueye borehole had been drilled. The infrastructure was
finished at the beginning of February, and the community has begun
drinking the potable water."
Kirtley says her organization
aims to create "Oases of Life" across the vast Azawak, starting with
drilling permanent and sustainable water sources, not only for its 500,000
inhabitants, but also for refugees seeking
shelter in the region. Those refugee communities include individuals that fled
Libya last year, and those fleeing Mali today.
The
Vibrant Village Foundation, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, supports
communities in the United States and throughout the world to build healthy,
prosperous, self-sustaining societies that foster tolerance, inclusion and
dignity. The foundation focuses on nutrition and health, clean water,
agriculture, education, the arts and poverty reduction.
Water tower, Vibrant Village / The Prem Rawat Foundation borehole in Ebagueye |
The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF), founded in 2001
by Prem Rawat, known widely as an Ambassador of Peace and a
humanitarian, partners with local and international organizations to help
provide essentially needed aid, particularly food and water, directly and
efficiently. Its aim is to give people what they most need so that they have a
chance to live in dignity, peace and prosperity. Much a reflection of the way
Amman Imman works, Prem Rawat expresses the Foundation’s objective as “to help people through the rough times without
interfering with the beautiful things that exist in their culture, their
beliefs, or their religion.”
Support
from the foundations is especially crucial at this time, as another food crisis unfolds in Niger and the
surrounding Sahel
region, and the rainy season continues to abate.